It's our responsibility as an organization to ensure that we train our researchers so that they are aware of their own responsibilities. - Linda Tywoniak, Administrative Manager at CHORI

CHORI’s commitment to excellence is reflected in its dedication to maintaining the highest ethical standards of research. Through educating and informing its scientists about the institution’s ethical standards, philosophy and policy of dealing with and reporting any possible misconduct, CHORI actively participates in creating an open environment of trust, honesty and integrity.

On December 16th CHORI is proudly hosted for the second time Dr. Edward Gabriele, PhD, an eminent research administrator and ethicist with the Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine in Rockville, Maryland. Having served as a Special Assistant to the Navy Surgeon General for Research Integrity and Ethics, and as the charter Director of the Office of Research Integrity and Ethics for Navy Medicine, Dr. Gabriele brought considerable expertise to the subject of ethical research.

In this year’s visit, post-doctoral fellows, supported by CHORI’s National Institutes of Health (NIH) Institutional Training Grant, had the unique opportunity to meet with Dr. Gabriele in small groups to discuss issues experienced by young and developing scientist in an ever more competitive biomedical research environment.

Dr. Gabriele also addressed the entire CHORI community on the nine standards for the responsible conduct of research, the ever-evolving role of research administrators, and issues of ethics in human research studies.

“These standards,” writes Dr. Gabriel, “challenge research institutions to consider that integrity in research is more a matter of the formation of an institution’s ethos than its compliance with regulatory requirements.”

CHORI strives to meet that challenge, and embody, in both concept and practice, the intellectual integrity at the heart of ethical research practice.